If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: What you call 'love' was invented by guys like me. To sell Nylons.

Originally Posted by Doraku

Why there is no love for Luffy? he's the pirate king

Well, personally I hardly EVER like the title hero of a series when there's a bigger cast of protagonists, especially in Shounen manga. One of the rare exceptions to this rule was young Goku back in early DB. But rather more than often I'm drawn towards the cool, composed and smart or just really eccentric characters.

This rule does not apply as universal in series where you just have one main character, like with the godly Kenshiro from HnK. (But then again, in these cases the protagonist's character has to be more rounded up in the first place. Otherwise the story will be utterly boring... - Which would apply to some Pre-Marineford Arcs in One Piece, Amazon Lily in particular. Luffy on his own was a kick to the groin in regards to tension and whatnot. He's too plain for my liking. God bless Bon-chan for making Impel Down more bearable.)

But yeah, those are my 2 cents. If I were to make a list for how I like the Strawhats, it'd be like this:

Re: What you call 'love' was invented by guys like me. To sell Nylons.

Originally Posted by Mr. Prince

Well, personally I hardly EVER like the title hero of a series when there's a bigger cast of protagonists, especially in Shounen manga. One of the rare exceptions to this rule was young Goku back in early DB. But rather more than often I'm drawn towards the cool, composed and smart or just really eccentric characters.

This rule does not apply as universal in series where you just have one main character, like with the godly Kenshiro from HnK. (But then again, in these cases the protagonist's character has to be more rounded up in the first place. Otherwise the story will be utterly boring... - Which would apply to some Pre-Marineford Arcs in One Piece, Amazon Lily in particular. Luffy on his own was a kick to the groin in regards to tension and whatnot. He's too plain for my liking. God bless Bon-chan for making Impel Down more bearable.)

But yeah, those are my 2 cents. If I were to make a list for how I like the Strawhats, it'd be like this:

I think I could understand your reasons. The reason why I idolize Luffy is mainly because of sentimental (and also the reason why I'm fanboying over One Piece as a whole), rather than.. objectivity whether such character is too plain or eccentric. Back then in 2001-2002, when I watched One Piece for the very first time, I was really hooked by Luffy vigorous persona, voice and the like. Hell, even I could say that Luffy is partially the reason why I started seriously studying Japanese. I'm also usually not really a fan of main protagonist ( I don't like young Goku!), but there is something special from Luffy's characters that I could not explain to you, unfortunately. He might be stupid, generic or whatever, but I never feel that his character is "cheap". Even normally when I got annoyed by the overused "Nakama" term, when it comes from Luffy's dialogue, I never have the urge to complain.

For other crew, I think Zorro and Sanji would be my number 2 and 3. Zorro being a very badass guy is never a negative thing for me personally, besides of that he could show his funny side sometimes. The reason why I like Sanji is probably the same as yours. As for my least favorite SH.. I think the bottom two goes to Brook and Robin. The funny thing about Robin is I like her before Water 7 arc, but after that her "fun" side never make me laugh. Robin is still good.. aesthetically.

Re: What you call 'love' was invented by guys like me. To sell Nylons.

Originally Posted by Mr. Prince

I don't even like Zoro. (Like any good Sanji fan would... )

I like Zoro because he's a swordsman( first and MOST importantly); not afraid to speak his mind and fiercely loyal to Luffy and the crew(not that the rest of the crew's loyalty is questioned; just love Zoro's way of expressing it). His voice actor is Kazuya Nakai( who also voices Mugen from Samurai Champloo; one of my other favourite swordsmen); ridic voice. He's a dumbass too and his interaction with the female characters on the show is always fun to see(remember Nico Robin joining the crew) and his running gag about direction.

Quick point about Luffy and main characters in general; I voice the same opinion as Prince in that I rarely like the title character over the others in the their respective mangas; this mostly applies to shonen genre for some reason as Musashi and Guts are my favourite in Vagabond and Bersek respectively.

Re: What you call 'love' was invented by guys like me. To sell Nylons.

Late reply is late…

Originally Posted by Doraku

I think I could understand your reasons. The reason why I idolize Luffy is mainly because of sentimental (and also the reason why I'm fanboying over One Piece as a whole), rather than.. objectivity whether such character is too plain or eccentric. Back then in 2001-2002, when I watched One Piece for the very first time, I was really hooked by Luffy vigorous persona, voice and the like. Hell, even I could say that Luffy is partially the reason why I started seriously studying Japanese. I'm also usually not really a fan of main protagonist ( I don't like young Goku!), but there is something special from Luffy's characters that I could not explain to you, unfortunately. He might be stupid, generic or whatever, but I never feel that his character is "cheap". Even normally when I got annoyed by the overused "Nakama" term, when it comes from Luffy's dialogue, I never have the urge to complain.

For other crew, I think Zorro and Sanji would be my number 2 and 3. Zorro being a very badass guy is never a negative thing for me personally, besides of that he could show his funny side sometimes. The reason why I like Sanji is probably the same as yours. As for my least favorite SH.. I think the bottom two goes to Brook and Robin. The funny thing about Robin is I like her before Water 7 arc, but after that her "fun" side never make me laugh. Robin is still good.. aesthetically.

Hmm hmm, I see. That’s totally cool, though. I love it that we can appreciate the same things for many different reasons. This is what makes manga (well, most entertainment media really) such a great thing.

I liked Zoro in the beginning and I think I could still appreciate his character a lot more if it weren’t for the fanboys. It may not be one of my best traits but I can get really annoyed by these kinda things and start to get turned off easily. (This applies to most forms of "hype". First and foremost, I’m an avant-gardist of manga or call it "hipster" if you must, but I just love my niches and prefer digging up great stuff while it’s still fresh and unknown… xD)
So after hearing stuff like, "Maaaan… Zori is soooooooo uber AWESOME!111!! SWORDZ!!!!!11111 BADA$$!!!!!!!!!!11111 HE’S LIKE DA STRONGEST MUGIWARA!!!1111111" for 8 years or so (I’ve been reading OP since 2000 but didn’t discover manga communities before 2005) I automatically started associating Zoro with the Marimotards.

And Robin is boring these days, it’s a shame. She started out as an amazing character! Mysterious gal with a tragic past and she was also directly linked to one of the biggest mysteries in the story (i.e. blank century/the Porneglyphs). – IMO Oda can’t quite handle his main cast appropriately. You can clearly see certain tendencies in screen time, contribution to the story, etc.

Originally Posted by goldb

I like Zoro because he's a swordsman( first and MOST importantly); not afraid to speak his mind and fiercely loyal to Luffy and the crew(not that the rest of the crew's loyalty is questioned; just love Zoro's way of expressing it). His voice actor is Kazuya Nakai( who also voices Mugen from Samurai Champloo; one of my other favourite swordsmen); ridic voice. He's a dumbass too and his interaction with the female characters on the show is always fun to see(remember Nico Robin joining the crew) and his running gag about direction.

Quick point about Luffy and main characters in general; I voice the same opinion as Prince in that I rarely like the title character over the others in the their respective mangas; this mostly applies to shonen genre for some reason as Musashi and Guts are my favourite in Vagabond and Bersek respectively.

Well, in my book being a swordsman is not really a quality of character. I often joke about Bleach by saying "A sword does not suffice for a lack of proper character building/writing." I find it quite a generic profession in manga, though I do give Oda credits for the creation of Santōryū. – Holding a Katana between your teeth has been one hell of a great idea!

So I do prefer other fighting styles that are a tad more creative, like the devil fruit powers and, of course, Sanji’s Black Leg Style! That fighting style matches the character just soooooo damn well. It’s ridiculous! <3

Nakai Kazuya is indeed awesome though.
Most Strawhats have high-profile voice actors with amazing talents. Sanji’s Hirata Hiroaki is friggin Captain Jack Sparrow, Usopp’s Yamaguchi Kappei has been the lead in some of Shogakukan’s most polific series of the past 20 years (Ranma, InuYasha, Conan), Franky’s Kazuki Yao is just such a crazy bastard and don’t get me started on the likes of Tanaka Mayumi (Luffy) and Ohtani Ikue (Chopper)…
[Then again, I’m not really an anime fan… don’t have the time for it, too busy reading manga. ]

As for BERSERK, I always find it difficult to name my favs from the series… after all, Guts is undoubtedly a great character with some splendid writing from Miura. But even there I find myself more drawn towards other characters because he's such an obvious pick...
Some of which include: the Skull Knight, Irvine, Void, Zodd (beast form only), and Slan. Goodies I like are Serpico, Judeau and Schierke.

Originally Posted by goldb

I GOT THE BOOK!!!! [enter description of feels here]

OOOHHHHHH!!! Merry X’mas to you then!

How you like it? Was it worth the price in your opinion? (I sure hope so... personally, I think it is.)

Originally Posted by Googlez_kun

Hey sexy, how are you?

To be honest, I came down with the flu last week and I’m still recovering from it. While I do feel a lot better these days I still struggle with heavy dizziness when out of bed for too long.

Re: What you call 'love' was invented by guys like me. To sell Nylons.

Originally Posted by Mr. Prince

How you like it? Was it worth the price in your opinion? (I sure hope so... personally, I think it is.)

Loved it! Because of where it was coming from, I didn't expect it until after Christmas or New Years but I got it on my birthday! So psyched about it. It's such an incredible book, price wise I'm torn because I'm tight with money and spending that much on a single book is something I've never done before but was it worth it? Hells yeah. It's just breathtaking to see his art with such detail, the pencil, brush lines and explanations behind certain arts or creative decisions.

I also picked up both Sumi and Water along the way; with Water being given to me as a birthday gift. .